18TH CENTURY

The ingenious 'Ferguson' clock-face displays the hours divided into four and framed within an octagon compartment that recalls Apollo as 'leader of the hours', being inspired by the sun-deity's temple illustrated in R. Wood, Ruins of Palmyra, 1757. The Scottish artist and astronomer James Ferguson (d. 1776), who was a Fellow of the Royal Society and author of 'Astronomy explained on Sir Isaac Newton's Principles', 1756, discussed his invention of the 'three-wheel' clock with a single hand and a minute ring in 'Select Exercises', 1758. Ferguson practised as a portrait-painter in London from 1743, and lectured on astronomy and scientific subjects. His clock was developed from one invented by the celebrated American statesman, philosopher and author Benjamin Franklin (d. 1790), who was established in London in 1757 as colonial agent for Pennsylvania (Henderson, Life of James Ferguson, London, 1870).